Shoe guard



1962 R. u. GILREATH ETAL 3,068,594

SHOE GUARD Filed March 21, 1962 INVENTORS ROY Gl LIZEATH 2 AE.SETTLEMIEE ATTORNEY 5 This invention relates to a foot guardparticularly designed to protect the foot from injury when working withmachines such as a power lawn mower.

It is an object of the invention to provide a guard which may be easilyapplied or removed from the shoe and when applied will prevent the shoefrom coming in contact with the rotary blade of a lawn mower.

A further object of the invention resides in forming the guard from asingle length of wire bent to provide an upstanding fender section atthe front end of the toe portion of a shoe which extends upwardly abovethe toe portion, a bracing section extending downwardly from the upperend of the fender section into engagement with the top of the toeportion and resilient gripping jaws extending rearwardly from the lowerend of the fender section for releasably gripping the sides of the toeportion to hold the guard in place.

Another object of the invention resides in providing a foot guard whichis simple and durable in construction, reliable and efiicient in use andinexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent duringthe course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and inwhich like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout thesame,

FIG. 1 is an illustrative view of a power mower and operator showing thefoot guard applied to the shoe of the operator.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the guard with the foot shown in dottedlines,

FIG. 3 is a section taken on lines 3-3 of FIG. 2, and,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the guard with the shoe shown in dottedlines.

-In the drawing wherein for the purpose of illustration a preferred formof the invention is shown, the letter A denotes generally the foot guardwhich is formed from a single strand of resilient wire of fairly heavygauge. The length of wire is bent intermediate its length to form spacedparallel strands 5 and 6 having horizontal portions forming a basemember adapted to extend longitudinally of the sole of a shoe with thefree ends bent outwardly and curved upwardly to form hooks 7 and 8adapted to resiliently engage over the sides of the shoe toe, with oneof the hooks disposed further back on the toe portion then the otherhook, as clearly shown in FIG. 2. The hooks terminate in loops 9 and 1t}and if desired an elastic band or spring 11 may be vconnected to theloops across the toe of the shoe to firmly secure the hooks in grippingengagement with the shoe. The strands 5 and 6 are bent to providevertical portions 12 and 13 to form a vertical member extending at rightangles to the horizontal portion upwardly in front of the shoe toe to aheight above the top of the toe portion. Also the strands are bent toform inclined portions 14 and 15 extending down from the upper ends ofthe vertical portions and then bent to provide upper horizontal portions16 and 17 to form a brace member for engaging the top of the shoe toewith the loop end 18 of the bent wire bent to project upwardly from thetop of the toe portion to provide a finger grip.

In use, the guard is slipped over the toe of the shoe until the verticalportions 12 and 13 are in contact with 3,%8,594 Patented Dec. 18, 1962the toe portion and is held in position by the hooks 7 and 8 whichresiliently grip opposite sides of the shoe toe. The inclined portions14 and 15, and upper horizontal portions 16 and 17 which are in contactwith the top of the toe portion serve to brace the upper ends of thevertical portions. The loop end 18 serves as a finger grip to facilitatethe application and removal of the guard from the shoe. Thus it is seenthat with the guard applied to the shoe the spaced vertical portions ofthe wire will serve as a fender to prevent the foot from contacting theblade of a power mower should the foot slip on the ground while pushingthe mower. Owing to the resiliency of the guard it may be easilyattached to shoes of various sizes and shape and being of lightconstruction will not be objectionable due to the added weight to thefoot. Also the portions of the wire which extend along the bottom of theshoe sole serve to grip the ground under pressure of the foot and thusact to prevent the foot from slipping.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herein shown anddescribed is a preferred example of the same and changes in the shape,size and arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from thespirit of the invention.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A foot guard attachment for a shoe comprising a base member extendinglongitudinally of the foot portion of the shoe sole, a vertical memberextending upwardly from the base member in front of the toe portion ofthe shoe to a point above the upper surface of the toe portion, and aresilient brace member inclined downwardly from the upper end of thevertical member into contact with the upper surface of the toe portion.

2. A foot guard attachment as described in claim 1 "ice ' includinghooks carried by the base member for engagement with the sides of thetoe portion for securing the base member to the shoe sole.

3. A foot guard attachment as described in claim 1 including hookscarried by said base member adapted to engage over the sides of the toeportion of the shoe and resilient means extending across the toe portionconnected to said hooks.

4. A foot guard attachment for a shoe comprising parallel strands ofresilient wire having horizontal portions for engagement with the soleof the shoe, vertical portions bent at right angles to said horizontalportions extending upwardly in front and above the toe portion of theshoe, and bracing portions inclined downwardly from the upper ends ofthe vertical portions into engagement with the top surface of the toeportion.

5. A foot guard attachment for a shoe comprising a single strand ofresilient wire bent intermediate its ends to form parallel strands withhorizontal portions for engagement with the sole of the shoe, verticalportions bent upwardly from the horizontal portions in front of the toeportion of the shoe and extending above the toe portion and bracingportions inclined downwardly from the upper ends of the verticalportions into engagement with the top surface of the toe portion.

6. A foot guard attachment as described in claim 5 wherein thehorizontal portions are provided with hooks to resiliently engage thesides of the toe portion.

7. A foot guard attachment for a shoe comprising a single strand ofresilient wire bent intermediate its ends to form spaced parallelstrands, said strands being bent to form upper and lower horizontalportions for resilient engagement with the top and bottom surfaces ofthe toe tically in front of the toe portion and connecting the upper andlower horizontal portions, said lower horizontal portions having theirfree ends bent outwardly and 3 upwardly to form hooks for engagementwith the sides of the toe portion.

8. A foot guard attachment as described in claim 7 including resilientmeans extending across the toe portion connecting the hooks of saidlower horizontal portions.

References (Iited in the fiie of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSLeague Apr. 10, 1934 Holtkamp et a1. Sept. 3, 1957

